


Some Christmas Magic

by Bonster



Category: Blue Beetle (Comic)
Genre: 1000-3000 words, Christmas, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2009-12-24
Updated: 2009-12-24
Packaged: 2017-10-05 06:07:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,118
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/38568
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bonster/pseuds/Bonster
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The Reyes family and Traci decorate for Christmas.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Some Christmas Magic

**Author's Note:**

  * For [museofspeed](https://archiveofourown.org/users/museofspeed/gifts).



> Beta'd by an awesome person who shall be revealed after the reveal for proper thanks. So any mistakes are very much mine and many apologies for them!

Jaime Reyes is sitting in front of his house looking a bit dejected. He's wearing some kind of khakis and a hideous plaid shirt; probably the Scarab's idea of a 'nice' (aka total joke) outfit.

Jaime looks like he'd really rather be wearing the armor, the way he's hugging his arms to himself.

"You look like your favorite TV show was canceled," Traci says, as she pops out of the air into his yard. She starts toward him, raising her arms in a rare gesture of comfort. Well, rare seeing as how they've only held hands a couple of times before, which had been mostly accidental.

Jaime sighs a bit theatrically and raises his fingers to squeeze the top of his nose. "Today we're decorating our tree and some of the living room."

Traci blinks. "Okay." She's looking at him like he's maybe finally become the alien he could so easily be.

"Milagro is in charge," he says, defeat in his tone, as he looks away from Traci's eyes and down at his shoes.

Traci quickly hides her smile, though her lips can't quite smother the slight upturn. "Oh," she says, understanding and sympathy in her voice. She pats his shoulder.

"Yeah." Jaime looks at Traci, shrugs, and pulls himself upright into a battle-ready stance and grabs her hand. "You're coming with me." He drags her through the front door into...

Well, into a space where a Christmas bomb must have went off.

Jaime's mother, Bianca, has ribbons and garland through her hair, looping over arms and twining around her waist. Tinsel is hanging off her shoulder and pretty much everywhere else it could hang on a human body. And there are rows and rows of even more garland strewn around her on the floor.

Jaime's father, Alberto, has ornaments in both hands, apparently weighing them, his tongue between his teeth in concentration. Several boxes in neat piles are at his feet.

And Milagro, the youngest, possibly dearest of the Reyes clan, stands in the middle of the room with her hands on her hips, surveying. A plate of cookies is at her feet, a whistle around a string on her throat. She's all business, clearly well into turning this operation into a well-oiled machine.

She sees Jaime and Traci and narrows her eyes.

Jaime quakes and _doesn't care at all_ that he edges behind Traci. Traci is _magic_. She can protect him. He keeps a deathgrip on her hand.

"You. You will hang up the snowflakes and reindeer and santa cutouts. You will also help make sure the stockings are full," Milagro says, pointing a finger right at Jaime and with a further nod at Traci.

Jaime may or may not whimper out high-pitched a "Yes, Milagro."

Traci squeezes his hand. "No problem, Milagro."

The snowflakes are incredibly dull to both Jaime and Traci, so Jaime has the scarab point out where some ideal cuts could be made and suddenly the snowflakes have intricate geometric designs that are completely fantastic, in Jaime's and the Scarab's opinion.

Not in Milagro's.

"Those are not the snowflakes you were supposed to put up," she says, picking them up and shaking her head.

"Uh," says Jaime.

"No worries! Quick fix!" Traci wrinkles her forehead a bit, maybe mumbles something, and the snowflakes disappear then reappear as they were before.

Joy beams from Milagro's face, her eyes bright and wide. "Thank you! That's much better!" She bounds back to her position in the middle of everything, humming.

Even Jaime has to smile at that. He looks at Traci, his eyes going soft, and mouths, "Thank you."

Traci flushes a little and one shoulder shrugs. She turns to grab the cardboard reindeer to put up, but Jaime grabs her arm and steps into her space. He smiles at her, she smiles at him. He can't help but kiss her with a quick brush of his lips on the corner of her mouth. She lets out a puff of laughter and they grin at each other. They stay standing close for a few moments before Milagro's drawn out, "Ewww! _Mom_!" and Bianca's answering "Awww!" jolt them back into reality.

Yeah, reality where Jaime just kissed a girl _in front of his parents_.

Jaime makes a strangled sound as he looks past a now smirking Traci to his mom's squinched up 'it's so cute!' face.

The Scarab says, "Love makes you stupid."

Heart already racing, Jaime's eyes get in on the action and widen to near bulging after that statement. He quickly steps away from Traci, picks up a reindeer and takes it to the other side of the room. In a corner. With no one in it. He whispers to the scarab, "I am not in love. Take that back. It was just a kiss!"

Scarab scoffs, "Adolescents."

The sun has set, but Jaime and Traci finish the snowflakes and the reindeer. While catching a breath (because really, Milagro forced them to go at Mach 10 after she was 'scarred for life', as if she even knew what that meant), they check out the rest of the family around the room. Bianca's untangled from the ribbon and tinsel, all of which is now on the tree. And Alberto is standing with satisfaction by the empty boxes of ornaments. The Christmas tree is covered in everything but--

"Lights!" Milagro yells.

There's some scrambling and someone, maybe Alberto, maybe Traci, uncovers the box with the lights ("Many colors! And blinking!" as Milagro had demanded). Bianca and Alberto take charge of wrapping them around the tree, murmuring quietly to each other. Milagro's sitting and eating from the plate of cookies, eyelids starting to droop slightly, her head nodding as if she's still giving orders.

"Jaime!" Bianca shouts and points at the wall switch.

Jaime rushes over and flips the switch off.

ALberto plugs in the string of lights and...

Nothing. It stays dark.

There's a beginning of The Wail coming from Milagro (well, most people wouldn't know it, but Jaime's senses were attuned to all things The Wail, and that slight, light noise coming from her throat... yeah. The Wail was imminent.), but before it can grow, Traci bursts, "Just a sec!"

And then there was light.

There was so much light in fact, Traci had to clear her throat and dim them down to a normal level.

Jaime took her hand. He asks, "All right?"

Traci smiling wide, turns to Jaime. "Definitely." She checks to make sure his parents and Milagro aren't looking and captures his lips in a slightly longer press than the first time.

Jaime's pulse jumps, but mostly he's content in the moment.

The Scarab hums happily, if a maybe a little mockingly.


End file.
